Khaleda places conditions to join election

Senior Correspondent: BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has placed six conditions to participate in the 11th parliamentary election.

The former prime minister placed the conditions at the first meeting of the party's national executive committee at Hotel Le Meridian in the capital on Saturday noon.

The conditions include holding the next general election under a “party-neutral poll-time” government, ensuring an environment so that voters can go to the polling stations without fear, dissolving the parliament before election, Election Commission must work to maintain neutrality for holding a free, fair and all-inclusive general election, deploying army during the elections and the army will act as a mobile force and the last one is that keeping out the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in the forthcoming national election.

During the opening session, Khaleda Zia said lower courts are now under the grip of the government and thus do not have the power to deliver judgments independently.

The BNP chief also called for national unity urging all political parties to be united.

At this stage, the BNP chairperson asked the audience whether they will remain united. “We will remain united,” she asked the audience to tell so.

Recalling the effort to split the BNP in the past, BNP chairperson said there will be much repression and torture to the split the party in the days to come.

“One of my sons could not survive the torture. Tarique is still recovering. Even I’m not afraid of any intimidation. I’m with you no matter wherever I stay. None will be able to intimidate me. I’m with our party men and with the people of Bangladesh.”

Warning the party men against creating any division in the party (during her absence), Khaleda said, “There will be no room in the party for those who will betray and those who will keep one foot on two boats simultaneously. You will go to another side for a while and again come to this side again - it’ll not be acceptable.”

Urging her part men to face the situation unitedly, she said, “One can be forgiven for once, but not for time and again.”

She said the people want to get rid of the misrule, repression and jail terms.

“That’s why, they want a change and the change must come through democratic means, through an election, and not any other means,” she added.

The meeting, that started after the BNP chief reached the hotel around 11:00am, adopted a motion of condolence expressing deep sorrow at the demise of BNP leaders and activists at different times.

The committee members observed one-minute silence, to show respect to the deceased leaders and activists.

Later, party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir presented the party’s organisational report.

Khaleda called the party's executive committee meeting to device its plan ahead of the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case verdict scheduled to be delivered on February 8.

Comprised of 502 members, the BNP national executive committee will sit today for the first time since its formation in 2016.

However, according to the party's charter, holding at least one meeting of its national executive committee every six months is mandatory, but the party is going to hold its first meeting of the committee around two years after its national council.

There have been a lot of discussions in the country's political arena about the verdict in the graft case to be delivered on February 8.


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 3, 2018/Reza/AI